Academy Notebook

Entering RBI Southwest Regional play on Friday, July 19, in Austin, the Texas Rangers RBI Softball Team was without a win in the history of the program.

But that was all about to change on the fields at Concordia University Texas.

In their first game of the day, the team representing the Texas Rangers Youth Academy at Mercy Street Sports Complex, presented by Toyota, rolled to an 8-3 win over host RBI Austin.

Hannah Rodriguez (2020, Irving), who shifted from first base to centerfield this year, contributed stellar defense, in addition to reaching base and scoring in all three plate appearances out of the cleanup spot in the order.

Texas Rangers Director of Youth Academy & Youth Baseball/Softball Programs Juan Leonel Garciga also coached the softball squad.

“It was just so special for this particular group of girls, many of whom were on last year’s team that went 0-4,” Garciga said of the win. “Even starting the game going down 1-2-3, you maybe got the sense of ‘Here we go again,’ but then a four run outburst in the second inning changed all that and gave the girls the confidence and momentum that would carry them through the tournament.”

It didn’t end there.

Starter Amandalynn Peterson (2020, Irving) battled through illness to pitch a complete game in the second contest of the day against NOLA RBI. In the final frame, NOLA loaded the bases with one out while trailing by a run, but Peterson pitched out of the jam and the Rangers Academy RBI team held on for a 5-4 victory.

“There truly weren’t words to describe the moment the final out was recorded,” Garciga explained. “The coaching staff was discussing possibly making a pitching change, but we opted to give Peterson that moment. We were going to the championship game because of her or we were going to lose, but that was her moment and she closed it out.”

The team also received contributions from one of its newest and youngest players, Ariana Ortiz (Dallas) who, at age 15, took over the cleanup spot in the lineup and made an immediate impact.

The win secured a spot in Saturday’s championship contest against the 2018 RBI World Series Softball Champion Houston Astros RBI.

Saturday opened with a 14-1 loss to the Astros squad in the final game of tournament play. And the Championship Game, a rematch against Houston, also ended in defeat, 8-0.

Losing in the Championship game did not minimize the importance of coming within seven outs from a trip to Florida for the RBI World Series, though.

“This experience was a resounding success. For our girls to feel like they have arrived and realize that they can compete with the best RBI programs in the country is something that will no doubt drive them to work hard until next summer,” Garciga said. “I anticipate big things from them during their high school season, and the fact they are all eligible to return next season is really driving them to make another run at this in 2020.”

2019 Rangers Academy RBI All-Star Softball Squad

On the baseball side, the Rangers Academy RBI 15U team rebounded from an 0-2 day on Friday, opening Saturday with a 13-3 win over NOLA RBI behind a complete game by Jacob Guerra (2022, Dallas). They advanced to the Third Place Game and defeated RBI Austin, 10-0. Tournament games were played at St. Edward’s University, with the third place game at Concordia.

2019 Rangers Academy RBI 15U Squad

The Rangers Academy 18U squad opened tournament play with a 2-0 victory over El Paso RBI behind a complete game by Marco Garcia Wong (2020, Dallas). But a 1-3 record in tournament play eliminated them from championship contention. Games were played at Concordia and St. Edward’s.

2019 Texas Rangers Youth Academy 18U Squad

The Rangers Youth Academy teams for the tournament were made up of All-Stars from the Academy’s RBI league. All-Stars were nominated by their regular season RBI coaches, then evaluated by Academy coaches and staff during pro style workouts.

Summer Camps

Session B of the Academy’s Summer Training Program is opened Tuesday and will run through August 16.

Programming is Tuesday through Friday mornings from 9:30 a.m. until 12:00 p.m.

Registration is available at https://texasrangersya.leagueapps.com/camps.